‘Mobile Money’ Teachers Want Salary Arrears

Some fifty (50) teachers from Margibi County descended on the offices of the Civil Service Agency (CSA) yesterday demanding their four months salary arrears.

The teachers who are part of the Government of Liberia’s ‘mobile money salary scheme’ are dissatisfied that in the wake of the Ebola Virus Disease and the re-opening of schools teachers have not been paid amidst the hardships that the disease has caused.

Speaking to this paper, a striking teacher from Margibi, Amelia Jallah, said that she needs her salary or else her own children would not be able to return to school this academic year.

Several of the teachers said that they went to the Education Ministry and were told to go to the CSA.

Addressing the aggrieved teachers at the CSA headquarters in Monrovia, the Director for Pay, Benefits and Pensions, MahdeaBelleka, said that the agency is aware of their claims and assured them that by the end of the day, they would receive one month back pay and that by April 5th the problem would have been solved.

For his part the CSA Director, George Wisner, acknowledged the scheme, indicating that though the scheme was intended for government employees working in counties where there are no banks, the scheme in Margibi is a pilot project, he asserted.

It’s common in Liberia since freedoms of speech and assembly have been guaranteed to Liberians that people can now speak-out against the ills in the society.

The aggrieved teachers being satisfied by the words of the CSA officials said that they will remain patient until the deadline the CSA has given them to receive their (teachers) delayed salaries.